Image by Andy Myers
Steele claims unofficial Baja 1000 win
With a long day and night of racing through one of the toughest courses in memory behind him, veteran racer and Baja impresario Cameron Steele has been unofficially named as the four-wheel overall winner of the 51st BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000.
Based in San Juan Capistrano, California, Steele and his Desert Assassin team earned the win after race organizer SCORE International levied time penalties to the No.11 Rockstar Trophy-Truck entered by Rob MacCachren (whose truck crossed the Ensenada finish line first), for on-course driving infractions. At the time of this writing, the ruling is being appealed by MacCachren and will be under review by SCORE International.
Should the ruling stand, the victory will be the first ever overall win by Steele, who was relieved mid-race by Las Vegas veteran Pat Dean. The duo set a careful pace in their No.16 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich Ford for the first half of the race before problems slowed the efforts of leaders Larry Conner/Ricky Johnson, Bryce Menzies/Toby Price and Andy McMillin/Gustavo Vildosola.
Inducted into the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) only weeks ago, Steele’s unofficial victory is an emotional one as he recently lost his father and desert racing mentor Mark “Big Daddy” Steele. The longtime Baja advocate is also famous for hosting extreme sports broadcasts like the X Games and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, as well as motorcycle and four-wheel tours throughout the rugged Mexican peninsula.
Image by Bryan Harrold
After years of effort, Steele only recently earned his first SCORE Trophy-Truck and overall victory at September’s Tijuana SCORE Desert Challenge.
In the two-wheel ranks, the No.7X Honda CRF450X motorcycle ridden by Justin Morgan, Mark Samuels and Justin Jones completed their dominating Baja 1000 performance against a large field of competitors from around the globe.
Stay tuned to RACER.com for complete official results and a post-race report as details become available later this weekend.
Marty Fiolka
A lifelong enthusiast of off road motorsports, Marty Fiolka raced his first Baja 1000 in 1992 and still enjoys getting behind the wheel via his annual BFG Team Rennsport NORRA Mexican 1000 effort. A graduate of University California at Long Beach, he founded The Rennsport Group in 1995 to execute motorsports public relations programs for Nissan, Infinity, Exxon, Mitsubishi, SCORE International and later became the editorial and marketing director for Dirtsports Magazine. Marty is a current contributor to RACER Magazine and RACER.com as well as operating the promotional agency for Crandon International Raceway and annual Red Bull Crandon World Cup. Fiolka was a 2014 Inductee to the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) and was instrumental in founding the Wide Open Baja adventure business and Ensenada's Horsepower Ranch. He also served as the associate producer of the original Dust to Glory documentary film and author of two books; 1000 Miles to Glory: The Baja 1000 Story and The Big Blue M: The History of McMillin Racing.
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